Pauch Jr Collects 5th Consecutive Win at Georgetown; Mahaney & Watt Captures Season Championships

The Short Track Super Series headed back to Georgetown Speedway for their annual Mid-Atlantic Championships to conclude the 10 race South Region points chase and crown the STSS champion and the Georgetown Speedway Points champion in a race that offered the winner a $7,000 gambler’s purse.

Billy Pauch Jr continued his Georgetown dominance by taking the lead back on lap 26 and holding off the likes of Anthony Perrego and Ryan Watt in the 40 lap feature to take his 5^th consecutive Georgetown win in a row.

In victory lane Billy Pauch Jr commented “This one was a hard one here, I got on Anthony coming out of two and knew if I forced him into the hole there we would be able to clear him.  He had a good car and the kid is one of the best out there and it was an awesome night.  I’ve been polite about everything; but you know in September for a lack of a better term they lit a fire under my ass and we have been on a role since then so I got to appreciate those guys really pushing me and making me prove that everything was BS and we can win races.”  

Pauch Jr continued “Five wins in a row here has been amazing and this place has always been really good to me and it fits my style.  My dad may have won ten in a row at a racetrack but five in a row is pretty impressive.  We have a lot of heart, soul and grit that makes it go around.  It’s really unbelieve to win 5 in a row and I’m kind of upset I skipped two races earlier to go to Diamond but we won on those nights too.”

Mike Mahaney battled from his 24^th starting position to a 12^th place finish which held off Matt Sheppard and Anthony Perrego in the point standings and secured his first STSS South Region championship and the $10,000 South Region champion check.

In victory lane Mike noted “This is unbelievable and a cool title to have. This is the first time we ever have been able to run the South Series.  I don’t think it set in until I saw the check and I think they were still tallying up the points when we finished the race. I didn’t have a good night tonight; but we did what we had to do to stay on top of the points tonight and all season long.  I didn’t have a good heat race; it was really ugly tonight and I wasn’t comfortable and couldn’t get a good feel in the car.  I’m just thankful for my whole team all season long.  This points title is something we really wanted and feels great.  I was counting positions under yellow and I was really concerned early as we were making up any ground toward the front.  I was probably being too carful but we were able to stay out of trouble and get to the position we needed to get this championship.”

Ryan Watt charged from his 11^th place starting position to the front of the field and a 3^rd place finish while holding off Matt Stangle and H J Bunting to lock up the Georgetown 2021 Modified Points Championship.

Ryan Watt stated “Going into it I knew the two cars I had to beat tonight and I would have no issues if I kept them behind us.  We had a good car and we were going for the win and figured everything would fall into place.  We are coming out of here tonight with a 3^rd place to add to a lot of other good runs down here at Georgetown this year and just  glad to pick up the track points championship.”

The modified 40 lap feature was led for the first 4 laps by pole setter Mark Pettyjohn until Billy Pauch Jr. took the lead on a lap 5 restart.  On lap 8; Pauch hit the infamous bump in turn 2 which destabilized his car enough that Perrego got underneath him and made a pass for the lead.  After a no start on a lap 22 restart; Pauch was able to pass Perrego and retake the lead which he would take into victory lane for his 5^th consecutive win at Georgetown over a 4 month period.

The heat races were won by JoJo Watson, Mark Pettyjohn and Ryan Watt.

Mid-Atlantic Championship Modified Feature Finish (40 laps):

Winner – BILLY PAUCH JR., 2. Anthony Perrego, 3. Ryan Watt, 4. Jordan Watson, 5. Mike Gular, 6. Matt Sheppard, 7. Matt Stangle, 8. Brandon Grosso, 9. Dominick Buffalino, 10. Wade Hendrickson, 11. Joseph Watson, 12. Mike Mahaney, 13. Mike Maresca, 14. Ryan Godown, 15. Richie Pratt, Jr., 16. Jim Britt, 17. H.J. Bunting, 18. Ryan Riddle, 19. Kevin Sockriter, 20. Frank Cozze, 21. Jared Umbenhauer, 22. Mark Pettyjohn, 23. Roger Manning, 24. Robert Dutton, 25. John Willman, 26. Mark Van Vorst, 27. Ray Swinehart.

Did Not Start: Max McLaughlin, Norman Short

2021 STSS South Region Champion ($10,000): Mike Mahaney

Georgetown Speedway Modified Champion ($2,500): Ryan Watt